Dean Pithie doesn?t have far to walk to work in the mornings these days.

A 30-second stroll down Longford Road finds the newly-crowned Commonwealth super-featherweight champion in the Capitol Gym three times a day, pounding his way to peak fitness for the first defence of his title, against Glasgow?s Craig Docherty, some time in November.

It?s all thanks to a unique concept in boxing, pioneered by Capitol Promotions director Kevin Houston, who saw the potential in a ramshackle old baker?s shop just up the road from the gym.

Several months of ?Changing Rooms? later and the three-storey property, or at least the front part of it, has been transformed into plush new offices for the operation, still less than a year old, with living quarters upstairs for the CPUK boxers.

And the first tenant to move in this week was Pithie, 28, who?s moved from the family home in Willenhall and is revelling in his new status as ?Lord of the Manor?.

?It?s brilliant because it?s all brand new inside, the work?s been done to a very high standard and it means I don?t have to worry about anything at all except my boxing now,? said Pithie.

?At first we all thought Kev was joking, that he just wanted to keep a close eye on all his boxers, but, like a lot of Kev?s ideas, he then goes and makes it happen and you have to admire his vision. He?s transformed my career since I met him and we can go on to even greater things together.?

Since defeating Alex Moon by two rounds at the Skydome in Coventry six weeks ago, Pithie has been on a well-earned holiday but has been back in serious training for several weeks now and reckons his base level of fitness is not far off where it was for the Moon fight, when most observers thought he was in the best shape of his career.

?I?m training three times a day, running five miles in the morning, isometrics at lunchtime then my gym-work in the evenings and I?m in good shape,? he added.

?I?ve been working a lot with Dean Watson, my fitness trainer, and building up my strength. That was a vital part of beating Moon, the shots were just bouncing off me and I can?t wait to get a date really.?

Houston revealed that Capitol had been offered generous terms to take Pithie to Glasgow for his first defence against Docherty but quickly turned the offer down.

?The whole point of setting up CPUK was so that the local lads wouldn?t have to keep travelling and, while I have no doubts Dean could beat Docherty in Glasgow, our duty to the Coventry fight fans is to give them what they want wherever possible,? he said.

?They want to see Dean, the champion, fighting in his home town and that?s what they are going to get. When I make a promise I keep it,? he added.